More groping charges against onetime downtown Minneapolis hairstylist

Two young women say he molested them in cosmetology class.

June 26, 2018 at 2:04AM

A former downtown Minneapolis hairstylist already charged with molesting a client has been charged with groping two other women months earlier in a Hopkins cosmetology class.

Vincent B. Sechi, 31, of Bloomington, was charged Friday in Hennepin County District Court with two gross-misdemeanor counts of fifth-degree criminal sexual conduct.

Ian Birrell, Sechi's attorney, said Monday that he received the complaint on Friday. "We are conducting our investigation to see what happened."

According to the complaint, both women, in their late teens, told police that Sechi reached under their clothing on Oct. 5 and groped their breasts after offering to give them free neck massages at the end of class at Atelier Academy of Beauty.

Sechi was charged in March with the same count after being accused of groping a 23-year-old woman on Feb. 27 in Juut Salon Spa in Gaviidae Common, where he worked for two months. A trial in that case is scheduled for Sept. 10.

In that incident, the woman said Sechi instructed her to change into a robe before he washed her hair and gave her a neck and head massage. But Sechi started touching the tops of her breasts under her robe, "telling [her] that American women would not like that, but since [she] is French, it was fine," the charging document read.

In a statement to police, Sechi acknowledged he had " 'definitely overstepped,' " the court filing continued.

Sechi has held a license with the state Board of Cosmetology since December, and it remained active as of Monday with no disciplinary actions listed.

Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482

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Paul Walsh

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Paul Walsh is a general assignment reporter at the Minnesota Star Tribune. He wants your news tips, especially in and near Minnesota.

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